A dream deferred

Illustration by Naomi Hawksley

Attorney General Jeff Sessions recently announced that the Trump administration will be rescinding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.

DACA protects people who illegally entered the United States as children from deportation and allows them to get work permits. Under the program, almost 800,000 undocumented immigrants have received protection from deportation, but those people will start to lose their protected status as early as March 6, 2018.

One of the people who might be affected by this change is a Lowell class of 2017 graduate and undocumented immigrant living in San Francisco. This person will be referred to as Villa to protect her identity.

An undocumented immigrant is a foreign-born person living in the United States without a green card, American citizenship, or other documents that allow them to live here legally. Over 11 million undocumented immigrants currently reside in the United States, with 25 percent of this 11 million residing in California alone.

Infographics by Maximilian Tiao.

According to one 2014 estimate, the Bay Area is home to around 240,000 undocumented immigrants. San Francisco, like roughly a dozen other American cities, is a sanctuary city. Sanctuary cities follow certain procedures that shelter illegal immigrants. For example, San Francisco prohibits the use of city funds to request one’s legal status or to assist U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or other similar agencies.

Alongside San Francisco, the San Francisco Unified School District is a sanctuary district, meaning they prohibit teachers or school administration from asking students about their immigration status. Because of this, there is no data available on the number of undocumented students attending SFUSD schools.

However, such students do exist.

Villa was born in Mexico. She and some of her family members moved to the United States when she was three years old. According to Villa, they were fleeing from violence and abuse.

Once in San Francisco, Villa’s daily life changed. In preschool, she had trouble communicating with others because she only spoke Spanish. It took her a few years to learn to speak English.

It took years for Villa to understand the reality of her situation. “I didn’t realize I was undocumented until middle school,” Villa said. There was never one moment where the realization hit her; she said instead that she gradually became more and more aware that she was undocumented and what that meant.

As Villa grew up, her family made sure to set very clear safety precautions for her. She was taught from a very young age to be scared of “La Migra,” a common slang term for U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. “Since I was little, my mom always taught me: if someone knocks on the door… if you know it’s La Migra, don’t open the door,” she said. Villa was also taught to stay out of trouble with police, because any contact with law enforcement carried the risk of being discovered as undocumented.

Because of her immigration status, Villa faced discrimination from her peers. “There was a situation where this one boy kept saying that just because I was undocumented I wasn’t gonna get into Lowell or that I wasn’t smart,” Villa said. “And there came a point where I was just like, ‘Well, yeah, I’m undocumented, and I might not be from this country, but that doesn’t define my intelligence.’”

“Since I was little, my mom always taught me: if someone knocks on the door … if you know it’s La Migra, don’t open the door.”

Despite facing discrimination and other hardships in her life, Villa refuses to let that stop her. “Being an immigrant, to me, is not a barrier,” she said. “Speaking from experience already, there are some bumps in the road. But I’m never gonna let that stop me from doing what I want to do in life.”

Villa does not consider herself to be politically active, but she does participate in marches and protests. On Feb. 16, she joined immigrants and families of immigrants all over the country as they stayed home from work, school, and avoided spending money in the national “Day Without Immigrants” strike.

The protest was organized on social media as a response to president Donald Trump’s attitude towards immigrants, including his plans to build a border wall and the creation of the Victims Of Immigration Crime Engagement Office. The VOICE program redirects funds from Department of Homeland Security programs that defend undocumented immigrants to working with victims of crimes committed by immigrants.

“And there came a point where I was just like, ‘Well, yeah, I’m undocumented, and I might not be from this country, but that doesn’t define my intelligence.’”

Villa compared the strike to Cesar Chavez’s boycotts. “I feel like [the Day without Immigrant strike] is a way of making a statement,” Villa said. “It’s your way of speaking up for yourself.”

Some people misinterpreted the strike’s intent, according to Villa. “A lot of people may think that it’s a way of saying, ‘Oh look, without immigrants you guys are nothing,’” she said. “But it’s not like that. It’s actually a way to step back and think about how we’re all connected and how we depend on each other.”

“Speaking from experience already, there are some bumps in the road. But I’m never gonna let that stop me from doing what I want to do in life.”

In response to the president’s stance against immigration, SFUSD is showing support for its immigrant students. On May 23, 2017, the SFUSD Board of Education adopted Resolution №171–10A1, which expands protections for undocumented students, including eventually establishing a position in each SFUSD school for an Immigrant and Refugee Liaison, who will work specifically with undocumented students and families. Another part of the resolution states that any staff member who learns about a student or family member’s legal status must keep that information private, so students going to the liaison for help would not risk being deported or arrested.

The resolution also restates previous SFUSD policies regarding undocumented students, including a 2007 resolution that states SFUSD’s commitment to provide education to students regardless of immigration status and sets forth procedures for District staff in the event of an ICE raid.

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Resolution №171–10A1 was brought to the board by Lowell graduate class of ’17 student delegate Jessica Eng and June Jordan High School student delegate Maria Zaragoza. According to SFUSD Board of Education president Shamann Walton, the process of writing and passing the resolution was completely student led.

Zaragoza and Eng, along with students from several other high school campuses sat down with the student advisory council and drafted the resolution, according to Walton. They then brought it to commissioner Matt Haney and Walton. “We have to be proud of that: that our students stepped up and people even had the wherewithal to focus on a fight like this,” Walton said in an interview with The Lowell.

Walton said that they had to have some conversations about what supports SFUSD could actually provide for undocumented students. “It wasn’t an easy process, but our students and the district did a great job of fighting for what they believe in,” he said.

The resolution provides opportunities for SFUSD students, teachers, administrators, and families to learn about undocumented student rights, according to Walton. “We want to protect all of our students, particularly in this case, our undocumented and our immigrant students,” he said.

The resolution was passed to make sure that everyone in SFUSD understands how the district will interact with ICE, Walton said. “We’re pushing to make sure that we provide training on our students’ rights, our families’ rights, as well as how to respond in these scenarios so that everyone is on the same page and has the same level of understanding,” he said.

According to Walton, the resolution is a response to the 2016 presidential election. “A lot of the things we believe in are under attack by the administration that was elected in November,” he said. “It was definitely important now for us to put that in place as a written statement, as a protection for our students, and to make sure everyone understands that we’re not going to tolerate hatred.”

Estefania Hermosillo is the Community Education Coordinator for the Educators for Fair Communication. Hermosillo gives presentations to teachers and principals throughout SFUSD about undocumented student resources. She said that SFUSD has some of the best methods that she’s seen so far for dealing with undocumented students.

Protesters march in the streets of San Francsico on Aug. 26. Photo by Esther Posillico

Hermosillo said that SFUSD’s attitude towards undocumented students is more progressive than other districts — many SFUSD schools host undocumented student clubs and support undocumented student leadership. In addition, SFUSD students have a very small chance of being raided by ICE or other immigration agencies, according to Hermosillo.

Lowell High School also offers support for its undocumented students. A bulletin board in front of the counseling office offers resources for undocumented students and families, including guidance for immigrant families and instructions on making a family preparedness plan.

According to Lowell wellness community health outreach worker Sarah Cargill, the Wellness Center offers training for staff. It also partners with several organizations that offer jobs, legal aid, and other resources for undocumented students. Students can visit the Wellness Center to learn about programs for undocumented immigrants.

The Wellness Center also gives out red cards, which can be used in case ICE comes to a person’s house. If someone is scared and unsure what to say, the red card provides a clear script that states their 4th and 5th amendment rights, and makes it clear that ICE cannot enter their house without a warrant. The card reads, “I do not give you permission to enter my home based on my 4th Amendment rights under the United States Constitution unless you have a warrant to enter, signed by a judge or magistrate with my name on it.”

On Wednesday, Sept. 6, principal Andrew Ishibashi made an announcement to the school about the end of DACA: “If any of our students are feeling threatened or unsafe or they’re getting depressed, please let us know: we’re all here to help you.” In a subsequent interview, Ishibashi clarified that he wanted students to know that they can talk to counselors or the Wellness Center for help, and that he will do anything in his power to keep his students — including undocumented students — safe.

Villa says that part of her family’s reason for coming to the United States was to follow the American dream, the idea that anyone in the United States can accomplish anything through hard work and determination. But Villa says that as she and her family have grown, their views have changed. “We’ve understood that it doesn’t matter where you are in the world,” she said. “You can accomplish what you want.”